Some of these shows were listed in my February list, but I didn't get a chance to see them in February so they are re-listed here! Have a show to recommend? Email me!
*These companies have signed on to the LA Anti-Racist Theatre Standards
Produced by East West Players* and Center Theatre Group*
Feb 12 - March 12
On Day 3 of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kristina Wong began sewing masks out of old bed sheets and bra straps on her Hello Kitty sewing machine. Before long, she was leading the Auntie Sewing Squad, a work-from-home sweatshop of hundreds of volunteers—including children and her own mother—to fix the U.S. public health care system while in quarantine. It was a feminist care utopia forming in the midst of crisis. Or was it a mutual aid doomsday cult?
Why I'm seeing it: This show has won so many awards and has been having great reception as it's been touring. Kristina Wong is an icon and I can't wait to finally experience her show! Recently, she won the
Produced by Center Theatre Group*
Feb 19 – March 26th
The Secret Garden blossoms again for a new generation by the original creators, Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner Marsha Norman and Grammy Award®-winning composer Lucy Simon. Follow young, orphaned Mary Lennox as she's sent from her home in India to live with her reclusive uncle on his haunted English country estate. Guided by an exceptionally beautiful score, Mary's unapologetic curiosity and the help of unlikely companions send her on a thrilling quest to untangle the pieces of her family's past and, most importantly—discover herself.
Why I'm seeing it: The night my boyfriend and I met (Sept 2017) we discussed this show. He thought it was underproduced, should make a great immersive show, and how it hasn't been done in Los Angeles in years. I'm not a musical person so I had no idea what he was talking about and had just seen a stripped-down version of a Theatre for Young Audience production I was working on. So we are seeing the show to close the loop on a 5-year conversation. The show is also getting incredible reviews!
Produced by Antaeus Theatre Company*
Feb 26th – April 3
The Digital Age has given humanity access to radical equality, effortless connection, and unprecedented intimacy. It has also served as a driver of detachment, alienation, and unbridled anger. Celebrated playwright Caryl Churchill examines these ideas and more through a kaleidoscope of 100 scenes – in just 90 minutes – featuring people from all walks of life, each asking the biggest of questions: What does it mean to be human? Directed by Company Member Emily Chase (Eight Nights).
Why I'm seeing it: I have known the Anteaus team for several years but have never seen a show of theirs, and I have heard nonstop things about this playwright via TikTok so this felt like a good opportunity to check off both boxes.
Produced by Center Theatre Group*
March 8th – April 9th
Nearly thirty years after the Los Angeles uprising following the Rodney King verdict, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 returns home to the Mark Taper Forum to be reimagined with an ensemble cast for a new generation of audiences. A powerful piece of living record and one of the most important works in the history of the Taper, Twilight... is a stunning and seminal play that explores the devastating human impact of the five days of uprising following the Rodney King verdict. From nine months of over 300 interviews conducted during the year following the uprising, playwright and scholar Anna Deavere Smith crafted a play that goes directly to the heart of the issues of race and class. Twilight... offers stark insight into the complex and pressing social, economic, and political issues that fueled the flames in the wake of the verdict and ignited a conversation about policing and race that continues today. Originally commissioned by and produced at the Mark Taper Forum, this 30th Anniversary Production is set to captivate our city once again.
Why I'm seeing it: This show is a powerful piece of Los Angeles history, the design team is amazing, the production is sure to be incredible.
Produced by After Hours Theatre Company* and SCLA*
March 16th - April 16th
The Tempest: An Immersive Experience is an all-new reimagining of a Shakespearean classic. In this genre-defying performance, guests are shipwrecked onto a mysterious island, where the play comes to life with live music, curated cocktails, and interactive encounters.
Why I'm seeing it: In full transparency, the founder and Artistic Director of After Hours Theatre Company is my boyfriend, and while I am not personally working on this show I know more information than the average ticket buyer. I had seen several After Hours shows prior to the pandemic and think the whole company is extremely talented and innovative. I am excited to see what they can produce within the traditional confines of a company like Shakespeare Center.
Produced by Camille Jenkins, Big Little Theatre Company, and Los Angeles LGBT Center*
March 16 – April 16
Claire is desperate to figure out if a lesbian period is the ultimate lesbian tragedy; meanwhile, Emily, a hormone inside her body, decides to take matters into her own hands. A comedic, musical, poetic rendering of the menstrual cycle, our heroines leap between the living room, the uterus, the ovaries, and the fallopian tubes to test the limits of love, the limits of the body, and the limits of what any single organism can accomplish alone.
Why I'm seeing it: I'm a fan of the production team, am familiar with some of the cast, and want to support a young theatre company collaborating with a legacy company like the LGBT Center. Their social media marketing has been really great and they are currently crowdfunding this project and have a very engaging campaign.
Produced by Boston Court* and Playwrights’ Arena*
March 16 – April 23rd (Thursday, April 6 is AAPI Affinity Night)
11th-century Ladies-in-Waiting Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shonagon are, to this day, two of Japan’s most beloved writers. They also kind of hated each other.
This play is about friendship, heartbreak, and what it means to be a female artist. Perhaps most of all, it’s about how no matter how much things change, the more they stay the same… even after a thousand years.
Why I am seeing it: I really adore the leadership team at Boston Court yet have not seen one of their shows yet. Plus I am excited to see a show directed bu Margaret Shigeko Starbuck.
Produced by A Noise Within*
March 26 - April 23
Set in a South American prison cell in a country under authoritarian rule, two polar opposites discover that love may spring in the most unlikely of places. Poignant and chilling, funny and sensual, Manuel Puig’s pinnacle creation runs the thrilling gamut of fantasy, danger, and finally – inspiring and eternal hope.
Why I am seeing it: In college, I took a theatre history class called "Theatre as Revolution" where we focused on Latin American theatre, it's where I learned about Teatro Campesino, Augusto Boal, and plays like this and really fell in love with theatre as a tool for social change. I am excited to see this play done by A Noise Within since I haven't seen something this heavy from them before.
Comments